Jerome!

I realize this post is out of order, but it was such a great time, I want to be sure to get it down on paper.

For our anniversary, Dustin and I took a quick 24 hour trip to Jerome, AZ. We left the kids in the care of my amazing friend, Jennifer, and headed out. We arrived in time to taste some wine, have dinner, and make it to our guided ghost tour! We stayed in the most haunted hotel in the city, and I enjoyed the most delicious Bloody Mary I've ever had. I truly had a wonderful time and can't wait to return, there's so much we didn't get to see!

We made it!

Our hotel-the most haunted hotel in the city!
It used to be an asylum...yikes!

Room 22-old fashioned keys!

Our room. That was about it!

Owned my Maynard of Tool!
One of my dreams was to go here!

Delicious food!!

Heading out on our ghost tour!!

Mile High Grill-our breakfast stop!

This city was so amazing and so full of culture!

So beautiful, one of the main drags in the city.

The views were breathtaking up there.

Still old and authentic, and totally awesome!

The original jail, just weathered and shifted after years and years.

The woman swore I attracted spirits.
She said she's never seen so many orbs.

Old brothel. She said this was a "happening" place for spirits to hang out.

Heading home. 

Goodbye, Grantham Road

Well, it's official. We are no longer homeowners! It was certainly bittersweet to say goodbye to the first house we ever purchased, but I know we're on to bigger and better things.

February of 2009 we were officially handed the keys! I remember feeling like we had the world on a string! We had our whole lives ahead of us, and this was the next step towards greatness.

6 years, the birth of our third child, a dog, a few cars, and many memories later, we've officially moved out and moved on. We sold our home with high hopes of better things to come.

We are under contract for another house, we should be getting our keys in just a few short weeks. Stay tuned to see how we've grown!

Disney!

I know, I'm a slacker. I pitifully acknowledge this every time I log into blogger and see the date of my last blog. I think I left off around Father's day. Mid-June? Sounds about right. Let's try and knock out a few key points here in the next few blogs and get caught up.

Disclaimer-I took a few HUNDRED photos during this trip, I promise to limit the number I include in this post minimal. And by minimal, I mean less than 20.

We decided at the end of last year we were FINALLY ready to tackle Disneyland. Our projected trip would be June 2015. We agreed on an amount for saving each month and opened a separate bank account, naming it "Vacation Fund".

The overtime started picking up and before we knew it, we were able to move our trip up an entire year! It was tight, we were consistent, and it totally paid off. We surprised the kids, they have absolutely NO IDEA where we were going. The car ride there wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been. I was armed with a load of dollar store supplies just in case, but we found a scavenger hunt that kept us occupied for a good part of the 7 hour ride.

We arrived just in time for dinner the first night, and explored Downtown Disney. We stayed off site the first night, and ended up at Bubba Gump Shrimp for the our first real meal since we left that morning. The atmosphere was awesome and we truly had a blast. We made it back to our room just in time to see the fireworks from our hotel room window.

We really spared no cost when it came to this trip, and had our days jam packed full of surprised and exciting things to do with the kids. We purchased tickets to BOTH Disneyland and California Adventure. We started our first morning in Disneyland (and met Goofy right away!) and after a few rides, we left around noon to go to "Ariel's Grotto" for lunch. The girls were speechless when they got to meet 5 princesses up close and personal! They were all beautiful, it truly amazing.

We decided to spend the rest of the day in California Adventure, and enjoyed many of the rides. Halfway through the day we stopped to dance with Phineas and Ferb, the kids got a kick out of their street show. We had prime seating for the parade, and since they were the only kids in the area we were sitting in, they got plenty of up close and personal attention!

The kids were plum exhausted by 8pm, so tired, that my son fell asleep in my arms. Believe me, I live for those moments, except when I'm exhausted myself and have 5 miles to walk. We stopped at one last ride and my son slept through the entire thing, including getting on and off the ride! Once we got to the new hotel, we checked in and took the glass elevator to our room. We showered and settled in just in time for the fireworks show.

The next morning the girls were awoken by a personal phone call from Mickey Mouse! They couldn't believe it was him, and he promised to see them later. We spent most of our day at Disneyland and met even more characters. I was just as shocked as Laila when there was no line to meet the princesses, we got there early enough there was no wait. Her dreams came true when she met Jasmine, her favorite princess since she even learned who princesses were. My eyes welled up with tears as she hugged her. We managed to see the last bit of Tangled's show, and Kenadi was also in heaven. We spent the day riding all sorts of rides, eating expensive food, gettingt face paintings and soaking up our time there. We drove cars, rode in spaceships, and tackled roller coasters that even made ME scream. There were only a small handful of attractions we didn't see, and most of them were because the kids were too small to ride them. We made it to the parade in Disneyland and the girls got to see Anna and Elsa of Frozen. It was official, our trip was complete.

Little did they know, we had one more surprise for them! We planned dinner at Goofy's Kitchen, where they met another bunch of characters! The night ended so blissfully, I don't know that it could have gone any better. We discussed the length of our trip before planning it, and decided 2 days at the parks would be about all our kids could handle. With early bedtimes and Laila's unpredictable blood sugar, we didn't want to risk ruining a great thing.

The kids haven't stopped talking about the trip since we were there, and we'd love to go again in the future. Making their dreams come true is worth any cost in my book, and I'm so grateful for the opportunity we had to share that with them.

Until next time, all my love.

Happy Father's Day!

Yesterday was Father's Day. Thanks to my poor planning skills, Dustin's gift is on the truck for delivery.

Today.

A day late.

Normally, I'm at the top of my game. I usually purchase something fabulous, wrap it and have hand-made cards from the kids waiting for him, complete with a breakfast fit for a king. I managed to nail the breakfast, but the gift, not so much.

Hopefully it arrives today and he loves it.

Since I felt like such a crappy wife, I did my best to make it up to him. We got dressed and headed into town. The kids and I decided lunch at one of daddy's favorite restaurants would do just the trick. We dined on sushi at Kona Grill. To our surprise, it was happy hour all day! We ordered enough food for an army and every last bit of it was delicious. We spent the rest of the afternoon laughing and shopping, picking up a few last things for our upcoming trip.

After a long afternoon out, we came home and I made Dustin's favorite dinner.

Lasagna.

Everyone else in our house hates it. I hope he enjoys having the entire pan to himself! Good thing it freezes well!

I found time to call my dad late in the evening and the kids all took turns wishing him a wonderful day.

My kids are so blessed to have such a wonderful father in their lives every day. Dustin may not be the perfect man, but he's perfect for them. He's living, breathing proof that there are good men out there. He works hard for us, and stops at nothing to insure we have everything we need all of the time. He's constantly reaching for the next best thing, and bettering himself in the process.

Until next time. All my love.

Flags and Fireworks!

Today, I got a little ambitious. I agreed to let the kids do a craft, which then turned into two. And any time paint is involved, it takes twice as long to clean as it does to actually paint.

Go figure.

Anyway, we made flags out of old egg cartons (2.5 dozen size), some cheap paint and foam brushes. The kids had a blast, here is a picture of the finished product!

Left: Dustin, Top Right: Laila,
Bottom Right, Kenadi

We also made "fireworks" with some leftover canvases, toilet paper rolls, and more cheap paint. The kids thought it was the coolest thing and made an even bigger mess with this craft than the first. I had to control myself from helping them (ok, doing it myself because it was a giant mess) but it turned out to be a lot of fun. Here's the girls final product!

Left: Kenadi, Right: Laila

A big "Thank you!" to the moms who pin all this stuff on Pinterest, so I can just copy it! 

Until next time. All my love

RAOK!

Random Acts of Kindness!

I decided this summer was not going to be wasted. No way. Not if I had anything to say about it! I've planned multiple activities each week, making it a point to include weekly Random Acts of Kindness (ROAK). As my children age, I hope they find it makes their hearts happy to love and give to others.

I dedicated Friday's to be our ROAK day, and yesterday just got away from me. Between baking and taking care of the kids, I forgot to get out and do something kind for someone. This morning, I made sure it was our top priority. The kids look forward to it each week, this being week three, they decided it should be something extra special!

I'll admit, I'm a sucker for five-bucks (aka Starbucks). It's one thing I indulge in that I rarely have to share with anyone. Even though it costs an astronomical amount for a customized coffee (venti cafe mocha, whole milk, no whip, 2 pumps vanilla and toffee nut drizzle-just in case you were wondering), it's my husband's equivalent of flowers "just because". He doesn't bring me coffee often, and when he does, it's like he has moved mountains. I don't spoil myself with shoes or clothes, coffee. It's the way to my heart.

Now that I've moved completely off track in a coffee-induced daydream, I'm back to reality. Sorry.

Not sorry.

Coffee is definitely dream worthy.

So this morning. Coffee was an absolute must. Any time I'm up before 7 am it's practically a given. Yes, even 6:59am. I promised the kids chocolate milk and donuts if they got ready fast enough. Nothing like an ultra non-nutritious breakfast promise to light a fire under their butts. We decided to try the new Starbucks in Fry's since we frequent the one in Basha's at least twice a week. We grabbed a few things, fruit, cereal, and the promised donuts and milk and headed for the checkout. After paying, I separately purchased a $25 gift card to Starbucks and got in line to order. I ordered my drink and paid. Despite the rather unfriendly woman behind the counter, I explained I picked up this gift card and would like to leave it for the few customers behind me, but the deal was she could not tell them who paid for their drinks. Easy enough.

The kids were giggling and could hardly contain their excitement! My heart was pumping fast as we waited for my mocha (which, in case you care, tasted like burnt ass). I could hear the lady explain to the next person in line their drink had been paid for. The woman in line kept staring at me. I ignored her. I sat my kids at a table and got their so-called breakfast ready and pretended to be absolutely clueless.

We watched as another person came up and received a free drink. And another. And another. The girls were trying so hard not to stare, but watching the looks on the customers faces followed by a smile made it so much fun! I should have brought popcorn, it turned into quite the show! One lady told her daughter all about it. Another man told his son he couldn't believe it. My heart almost exploded right then and there.

It.

Was.

Amazing.

My hopes for the future are shiny and bright. I may not be able to do much. Some days more than others. But today, today was awesome. One day these sweet babies of mine will grow up. Move out. Move on. And hopefully these RAOK have not been lost on their hearts.

Until next time. All my love.

Late Night Ramblings.

This blog has been weighing heavily on my heart lately. I used to update it frequently, and then as my children grew, it became less and less. I found myself wrapped up endlessly in them, and the amount of time I had for myself has slowly dwindled away to next to nothing. What little time I do have alone, I ponder over the idea of blogging again. Would I be any good at it? Would anyone want to read it? Maybe it's time for something new...

Where have I been? Well, I'm not sure that really matters. I'm here now. It's just after 10pm on a Wednesday night and the whole house is quiet. I can't sleep. Hell, I can't even relax. Not at a time like this. We're on the brink of huge changes around here. But before I dig deep into the depths of my soul, I digress.

An entire school year has passed since my last blog. Kenadi has completed kindergarten, to say she did great wouldn't quite do her justice. She received more awards than I can count on my two hands, I'm the picture of a proud mother. My sweet girl adapts to anything with grace and beauty, she's a true middle child. I couldn't love her more for it even if I tried. Laila, my sweet sugar baby, has completed her 3rd grade year. I'm ecstatic to report she made honor roll three of out of four quarters, and Principals List the last quarter. I know how challenging dealing with diabetes is for all of us, but she makes it look easy. Straight A's, another soccer season under her belt, and she's glad it's summertime.

Looking back, my last post was sometime in August. Whew, August.

We had a stellar birthday and holiday season, Dustin was actually home for the first time in years, and celebrating Christmas as a family was everything I hoped it would be. Snowflake made her debut December 1 and wreaked havoc on my household yet again. I know I complain sometimes, but I don't know that I'll ever get tired of seeing the smiles on the kids' faces every morning of December when they find her and laugh over her silly antics. It's not easy, coming up with 25 new ideas each year, but it's certainly worth it.

No, I haven't forgotten about my son. That boy of mine, he sure gives me a run for my money. I'm pleased to announce Little Dustin has been potty trained for a few months now, including overnight. It makes for a much happier Dustin, and not having to pay for diapers makes for a much happier bank account, too. I won't lie, I left the unused pull-ups in his underwear drawer, not because he needs them, but because I can't bring myself to rid the house of the last shred of baby left in it. Yes, there's one last diaper in there, too. Don't judge me. Would I have done things differently if I truly thought he was my last one? Maybe. Probably.

Changes. I did mention things were changing around here. Starting with me. I decided settling for "good-enough" wasn't "good-enough" for me. It has been 12 years since I graduated high school, and 11 years since I dropped out of college after barely completing one full year. I have a husband that supports me and our family, but the "what-if's?" kept taunting me. I bit the bullet and enrolled in an online college. I laughed, cried, and persisted. I'm now 4 classes in and have declared a major. Wait for it.

Addictions counseling.

Seems fitting.

Changes. We're not finished. Our house, our home. We're in the process of selling it. In fact, we have less than a month to be packed and moved out. Where will we go? Your guess is as good as mine. We are staying in Maricopa, we just don't have an address yet. This is where the stress begins to creep up the back of my neck, behind my ears, and rushes down my chest. Don't you worry, we're house hunting again on Monday.

Dustin and I are just days away from celebrating our 8 year wedding anniversary, and I'm about a month out from my big 3-0. We decided now is as good a time as any to do all the neat things we've always waited to do for no real reason. For example: I shot a gun! We went to the shooting range. We've been both beer and wine tasting. We have been to a couple concerts and have bought tickets to a handful more. I'm checking things off my bucket list like there's no tomorrow. Isn't that the point? No more letting life pass me by.

This summer has proved to be a lot less hectic than last summer. Ok, that was a lie. It's ridiculously busy. We have plans almost daily. It would also be a lie if I said I didn't love it. Crafts. Random Acts of Kindness. Movies. Play dates. Family visiting. It's only a few weeks into summer and we've barely had a day "off" yet.

Just how I like it.

Did someone say Disney? Oh, yes. We're surprising the kids with a trip to Cali in just 19 short days. They have no idea we're going, and keeping it a secret has proved harder than either Dustin or I had ever imagined! Did you catch the part where I have to be moved out of this house in less than a month? Yep. Disneyland and moving in the same month. Because I'm a glutton for punishment.

Am I rambling? I'm rambling. Boy, does it feel good. The Counting Crows are blaring in my headphones and my neck is sore from the way I'm sitting, but I don't even care. It feels good to do something for me. I've decided I need to break away from this blog and make a second one just for me. I can't promise to keep this one updated with our family shenanigans. I can't even promise to keep the other one updated. But I can promise to try.

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